, 1887-06-09
-,''' THE DIGGER INDIANS. ,'rs-r
4 Hunters Experience With Thsu.
Their Peculiar Traits.
Especial Correspondence.l

Especial Correspondence.l
CHICAGO, Juno I.
In the rotunda Of the Sherman house the
other evening a veteran Rocky mountain
lunter was entertaining group Of CONNER
cial men with stories Of adventures on the
plains and mountain fastnesses. "By the
way, boys, did you ever hear tell Of the Dig
ger Indiansi Well, this is how / dropped
! onto 'em. 1t was only month or two ago;
| had wounded q tough and rather lively
grizzly near the foot hills, and he was sneak
ing Off at pretty lively rate over the plains
[ started in full pursuit, calculating that
another shot at close range would fetch the
crtter, when, jumping upon one OF the many
curious hillocks that centered at one point, /
seemed to be tumbling through huge in
yerted basket, and all OF a sudden found
.ayself doubled up In q heap in n pit
tbout six feet deep, describing
circle Of perhaps seven feet, surrounded
~ tribe of three dirty Indian squaws,
.cantily clothed, four naked children and an
| oil Indian brave, sans war paint and any ex-
terror ornaments or clothing other than a
leather girth, to which was attached rude
hatchet and pipe. The inhabitants Of the
| subterranean abode were clearly taken by
! surprise, and the women and children
screamed and shouted like so many Conan
| ches on the warpath. The old Indian shook
| his head with displeasure, made pretense OF
| rasping his tomahawk, and pronounced a
| short Indian Grafton in deep cultural tones. I
| .xtemporized eloquent gestures indicating my
! leep chagrin at the situation in which / very
unexpectedly found myself, pointed to barked
,hins and bruised arms, and with my eyes
firmly fixed upon the optics Of the Indian,
! laid hold of n sort of rope ladder connecting
with the opening above, and crawled up side
| faG m ba yxl, N
to the occupants of the pit, and nimbly leaped
through the opening. l quickly perceived
| that l was in the very heart of a subterranean
/ Digger Indian village, for on all sides the
basket like coverings OF the pits We're being
removed, and the occupants, old and young,
great and small, clad in all degrees
of undress and fthiness, formed in
| family groups about their respective homes
or lodges. There were In the village
! perhaps thirty lodges, in the center Of
| an immense plain, mile or so from the bot
tom OF the foot hills, on a small rise of
ground. The huts or pits were scattered
about irregularly and indiscriminately, and
not I'm the order which usually characterzes
! the lodges OF Indian villages. They were
simply pits or holes dug into the earth, from
| four to seven feet in diameter, and usually
| from four to six feet in depth. While many
OF these Indian residences were purely and
simply circular pits, others were OF more
pretentious nature and further elaborated,
embracing one or more shafts or chambers
on level with the bottom of the hut, dug
into the sides OF the room from four to six
feet, with an arched covering Of earth two or
three feet high--literal earth chambers, three
feet square by five or six feet long. Some Of
the huts had one chamber, and Others two or
| more chambers, into which the adult men,
bers of the Indian family crawled at night
for rest and sleep The tops Of these Indian
| abodes were covered with boughs Of trees 90
arranged an to shed water and sprinkled with
| leaves aud dried grass, usually covered with
| q thin layer Of soil. Then In the cantor there
Il . marrow opening Of eighteen inches TO two
| feet, clooed BY . remarkable willow or wicker
work covering, which Il lifted 70 one side
whenever the occupants Of tho hut wtsh "a
| make their entrance or exit from The sub
| txrranean abrsie l. q. r.